Railway-car hopper door



Nov. 11, 1930.

G. G. GlLPIN 1,781,454

RAILWAY CAR HOPPER DOOR Filed 0c:1;. 5,v 1929 2- Sheets-Sheet 1 Invenzor:

Nov. 11, 1930.

G. s. GILPIN 1,781,454

RAILWAY CAR HOPPER DOOR Filed Oct. 5, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 11, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GARTH G. GILPIN, OF RIVERSIDE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO UNION METAL PRODUCTS COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE RAILWAY-CAR HOPPER DOOR Application filed October 5, 1929. Serial No. 397,590.

The invention relates to railway freight cars, and more particularly to dump cars having a hopper on each side of the center sills of the car and provided with a pair of doors arranged for simultaneous opening or closing of the hoppers.

An object of the invention is to so form such doors that they will increase the cubical capacity of the car, and at the same time so dispose the metal that the door will have great strength to retain the load in the car through the medium of the spreader beam whereby the door is relatively light for its strength.

Though the door may be made of a rolled steel plate pressed to form between reciprocating dies, I prefer to make the door of cast metal because a better distribution of the metal for strength requirements can be obtained without the use of separate fixtures, and furthermore, cast metal has greater resistance to corrosion than rolled metal. This last item is important because hopper cars are frequently used to haul coal, which upon becoming moist, forms sulphuric acid which accelerates corrosion.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a typical application of my invention to a railway hopper car.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 of 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan View of the door shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 shows a modified construction,

Figs. 5 to 9 inclusive showniodifications described later.

In the drawings the usual parts of the car are shown, such as center sill 1; side wall 2; lower side chord 3; hopper bottom sheet A; hopper inside sheet 5; hopper outside sheet 6; hopper cross ridge sheet 7 hopper stiffener 8 and hinge support 9.

Any door raising 0r locking mechanism may be used with my door, but for convenience I have shown an operating shaft 11 mounted upon the center sills 1 by brackets 12 having eccentric cams 13 actuating a lifting rod 14 which is connected to the spreader 15 by the member 16. Upon rotation of the operating rod the mechanism raises the doors and when a pawl on the side of the car is released the force of the load against the door opens the doors.

The door comprises marginal portions 20 in a substantially single plane adjacent its perimeter which preferably engage the marginal edges of the discharge opening when the door is in closed position to retain the lading, said door also comprises a depressed portion 21 between the opposite walls 22, which depressed portion is formed by a straight line moving parallel to itself and preferably parallel to the axis of the hinges, which portion may be straight, curved or irregular. This depressed portion 21 is of arying depth from the plane of the mar ginal portion 20. The opposite ends of the depressed portion are connected to the marginal portions by walls 22, which are preferably normal to the marginal portions, as shown in Fig. 3, but may be inclined inwardly, as shown in Fig. 4.

In thepreferred form the depressed portion is deeper adjacent the lower margin of the door than elsewhere and the spreader beam is preferably attached to this deeper portion so that the walls then become beams supporting the cargo load between the spreader 15 and the hinge supports 25.

The spreader 15 is preferably attached to the depressed portion 21 and the depressed portion is preferably provided with a flat engagingsurfa-ce 24 for such spreader beam. The flat portion 24 is preferably parallel to the margins 20 so that the force of the cargo load against the door is at right angles to the depth of the spreader beam.

In Fig. 2 I have shown a section through the preferred form of the door, wherein the depressed portion 21 has its greatest depth adjacent the lower margins of the door and the spreader beam 15 is attached to the depression at the point of greatest depth. The depression is formed on arcs or circles which allows for an easy flow of the molten metal in casting. The door is provided with an integral hinge lug 30 attached to the hinge support 9 by the usualpin.

Fig. 5 shows a modification wherein the depressed portion 21 is provided with flat marginal parts 31 in substantially the same plane, which plane is spaced apart from the plane of the margins 20, and connected thereto by the parts 29. The portion 82 between the parts 31 is depressed.

Fig. 6 shows a modified form wherein the posed oblique walls -'4l,1 connected byv The depression has straight fiat portion 42. its greatest depth adjacent the lower portion of the door. 7

. Fig. 9 shows another modifiedform wherein the depressed portion is formed on aplu rality of straight lines having a shallower place for attachment of the spreader.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art. I claim: i

1. A hingeable door forming part of the 5 load retaining means of a railway dump car,

said door comprising marginal portions in substantially a single plane, a depressed por tion formed by a straight line moving par: allel to itself, said depressed portion being of varying depth from'the plane of the marginal portions, and straight walls connecting the ends of said depressed portion'to said marginal portions.

load retaining means of a railway dump car,

said door comprising marginal portions in substantially a single plane, a depressed portion formed by a straight line moving parallel to itself, said depressed portion being of varying depth from the plane of the marginal portions, and straight walls connecting the ends of said depressed portion'to said marginal portions, said depressed portion being deeper adjacent the lower margin of the door than elsewhere.

4. A hingeable door forming part of the load retaining means of a railway dump car, said door comprising marginal portions in substantially a single plane, a depressed portion formed by a straight line moving parallel to itself, said depressed portion being of'varyi'ng depth from theplane of the marginal portions, and straight walls connecting the ends of said depressed portion to said marginal portions, and a spreader attached to said depressed portion;

5. A hingeable door iorming part of the load retaining means of a railway dump car, said door comprising marginal portions in substantially a single plane, a depressed por tion formed by a straight line moving parallel to itself, said depressed portion being of varying depthfrom tlieplane of the marginal portions, and straight walls connecting the ends of'said depressed portion to said marginal portions, said depressed portion being deeper adjacent the lower margin of the door than elsewhere, and a spreader attached to said depressed portion at said deeper part.

(3. A hingeable door forming part of the load retaining means of a railway dump car, said door comprising.marginal portions in substantially a single plane, a depressed portion formedby a straight line moving parallel to itself, said depressed portion being ofvarying depth from the plane of the marginal portions, and straight walls connecting the ends of said depressed portion to said marginal portions, said depressed portion containing a part substantially parallel to the plane of the marginal portions for attachment of a spreader.

7. A hingeable door forming part of the load retaining-means of a railway dump car, said door comprising marginal portions in substantially a single plane, a substantial y semi-cylindrical depressed portion, and straight walls connecting the ends of said depressed portion to said marginal portions.

8. A drop door for a railway car comprising hinge elements, marginal portions in substantially a single plane, and a depressed portion of varyingdepth from the plane of the marginal portions, said depressed portion formed by a straight line moving parallel to itself, said depressed portion being parallel to the axes of the hinge elements.

1 GARTH' G. GILPIN. 

